Over seven hours, the astronauts took thousands of photos that will help inform scientists’ understanding of the moon. The first ones have now been released.

The four astronauts — NASA commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen — spent Monday’s seven-hour lunar flyby taking photos and making observations from the Orion spacecraft, which they named Integrity.

Nasa has released the first photographs taken by the Artemis II astronauts during their fly-by of the Moon. The first image, above, shows an 'Earthset' as the astronauts glimpsed our home planet peeking out beyond a cratered lunar landscape.

After the lunar observation period concluded, the Artemis II crew was congratulated by President Donald Trump, in a live conversation that aired as part of NASA’s continuing live coverage of the mission. They also spoke with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and answered questions from social media.

During the mission's loop around the moon, the crew took geological observations of places of interest on the lunar surface using their own eyes and snapping thousands of photos of the surface.

The astronauts lost connection with Nasa while behind the Moon, as they passed the furthest point humans have ever travelled from Earth.

See an incredible total lunar eclipse from the Artemis II spacecraft. In a very new view of our solar system, you can see much more details of the moon and its atmosphere when backlit by the sun.

The first flyby images of the Moon captured by NASA's Artemis II astronauts during their historic test flight reveal regions no human has seen before.

Three Americans and one Canadian traveling on NASA’s Orion spacecraft surpassed a milestone set by the crew of Apollo 13 in 1970.